


Surprise Visit

by juggieheadcoopers



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Meeting the Parents, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 06:24:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juggieheadcoopers/pseuds/juggieheadcoopers
Summary: Jughead’s mother and sister surprise him and the gang at Pop’s





	Surprise Visit

“Juggie, you have to try this milkshake, it’ll change your life,” Betty slid the pink-tinted glass over to Jughead’s side of the booth, adjusting the straw so that it was pointing in his direction.

“Change it to what?” Jughead challenged, bending the straw forward to tilt it towards is mouth. “Because last time I checked, your life can never be physically altered by sipping some thousand calorie, overloaded-with-sugar drink that-”

Before Jughead could finish his sentence, Betty shoved the glass forward and he was forced to take a sip. “Shit, that is good,” he admitted, glancing down at the glass with wide eyes as he stirred the pink concoction with the straw. “What’s in that?” 

“Happiness,” Betty smirked, reaching forward to slide the drink away from him just as he leaned forward to take another big gulp. “Well that and an overload of sugar.” 

“Arch, what are you working on?” Veronica asked from her seat next to Betty, leaning across the table to catch a glimpse of the sheet of paper he was so focused on. “Your eyebrows are so furrowed that I’m not entirely unsure that they won’t merge together and just become one at this point.”

“Sorry guys, I’m working on this new song that Val promised she would show Josie at the next Pussycats rehearsal,” Archie explained, scribbling something on the paper before quickly erasing it. “I want to make sure it’s perfect before she even attempts to sing a note of it.” 

“I’m sure it’ll turn out great, Arch,” Betty assured him, reaching across the table to steal a fry from Jughead’s plate and getting a dirty look from him in return. 

“I hope so, I just really want to-” Archie stopped mid-sentence, his attention turning to the front entrance of Pop’s as he watched the person entering the diner wave to one of the waitresses before tucking her umbrella back into her bag. 

“Arch?” Veronica nudged his arm, turning in her seat to see what had caught his attention. “What is it?”

“Um, Jughead,” Archie pointed to the door, and Jughead’s eyes curiously followed in that direction. “I think there’s someone here to see you.” 

Jughead immediately slid out of the booth, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of his mother and sister standing in the doorway, their clothes dripping wet from the unexpected rainstorm.

“Mom?” Jughead breathed, taking a few steps closer. “Jellybean!”

“It’s JB now, remember?” Jellybean, now tall enough to reach the tip of Jughead’s shoulder, reminded him as she leaned against the doorframe to raise an annoyed eyebrow at her brother. 

“Right, I knew that,” Jughead muttered, shaking his head as if trying to determine if seeing his mother and sister after so many years being apart, was real or just a dream. “Wow, what are you guys doing here?”

“We came to see you, Juggie,” his mother explained, gesturing for her son to fall into her arms for an overdue hug. “Come here.” 

Jughead wrapped his arms around his mother, taking in the familiar scent of jasmine and vanilla that he had loved so much when he was a child. “It’s good to see you,” his mother breathed, her breath tickling the back of his neck as she pulled away from him. 

“Yeah, you too,” Jughead beamed at her before turning to the young girl with headphones slung around her neck and dirty converse sneakers squeaking on the tiled floor. “Get over here JB, or are you too cool to hug your big brother now?”

“I guess I can make an exception this once,” Jellybean shrugged nonchalantly, smirking amusedly at her brother before launching herself into his chest for a giant bear hug. 

“Well I feel honored now,” Jughead joked, glancing down at her phone and pointing to the song being displayed across the screen. “What are you listening to these days?”

“The Cramps, Fugazi, NOFX,” JB rattled off a few of her favorite bands before looking up to see her brother raising a curious eyebrow at her. “Yeah, I’m really into post-punk these days.”

“Unfortunately for me, that means I had to invest in several pairs of earplugs,” their mother admitted, rolling her eyes at her daughter before turning to smile at Jughead. 

Jughead glanced up to find his friends staring curiously at the three of them from their usual booth, and he quickly ushered for his mom and sister to follow him over to meet them. “Um, mom, JB I’d like you to meet my friends,” Jughead announced, stepping to the side so that everyone in the booth could be seen. “You know Archie, of course.“ 

“It’s great to see you again, Mrs. Jones. You too JB - I can’t believe how much you’ve grown up,” Archie smiled up at Jellybean, who immediately began to blush furiously from the unexpected attention. 

“And this is Veronica Lodge, she and her mom just moved here from New York not too long ago.” Jughead gestured to Veronica, who immediately leaned across Betty in the booth to hold out her hand to Jughead’s mother. 

“Mrs. Jones, I must say, your rain boots are très chic. I had a pair just like that last April that I got from this little boutique in-” Veronica started, but was quickly cut off by a fierce nudge in the side from Betty. 

“V, now is not the time to rehash shopping trips from long past,” Betty reminded her in a hushed tone, smiling apologetically at Mrs. Jones. 

“Last but not least, this is-” Jughead looked from his mom, to Betty, and back again, but his mother simply placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled knowingly at Betty. 

“Come on, Juggie, like I could ever forget Betty Cooper,” his mother told him, her eyebrows arching curiously as she watched her son nervously adjust his beanie and avoid eye contact with everyone and everything but the scuff marks on the tiled floor. 

“Right, okay, JB do you want to stay with the gang while mom and I catch up for a second at the counter?” Jughead asked, quickly turning to his friends expectantly as he guided his mother away from the booth. “Guys, do you mind?” 

“She’s in good hands, Jugs,” Veronica assured him, gesturing for JB to take a seat in the booth next to Archie and sliding Betty’s milkshake over to her. “JB, you have to try this milkshake. It’s all sugar and really bad for you, wanna sip?” 

Jughead shook his head at Veronica as he took his mom by the elbow and led her towards the counter. Hopping onto the stool, Gladys Jones turned to her son with an amused expression. 

“So you and Betty Cooper, huh?” she teased, taking a menu from the stack on the counter and flipping through the various combinations of burgers and shakes that she had missed while she had been away. 

“What makes you say that?” Jughead said into the surface of the counter, avoiding eye contact with his mother as he picked at a piece of plastic coming up at the edge of one of the menus. 

“Oh, come on,” his mother prompted, nudging his arm playfully as she closed the menu and turned to Jughead. “I might have been gone awhile, but I’ve always known how you felt about that girl. You used to write little poems about her when you were little - ‘the girl with golden pigtails,’ do you remember?” 

“Mom, can you not start with the obligational parental embarrassment please?” Jughead groaned, burying his head into his hands and sighing. “I feel like you’re making up for lost time here and I’m not okay with it.” 

“Fair enough. New subject then,” she offered, wriggling uncomfortably in her seat and turning her face away from Jughead to rest her chin gently in one hand. “How’s your father been doing?” 

“He’s been fine,” Jughead lied. “Good even. He’s working for Fred Andrews again and he hasn’t been drinking as much. He’s really made an effort.” 

“You’ve always been too sweet to belong to either one of us,” she said distantly, tracing the name on the front cover of the menu with her index finger. “I’ve known who FP is since the day I married him. You don’t need to lie about him, not for me.”

“He’s… managing,” Jughead admitted, glancing down at his hands. “I think he misses you, even if he would never admit it out loud. And he misses the way our family used to be. So do I.” 

“I know, Juggie,” his mother said sadly, tucking her hair behind her ear before turning in her seat to pat her son’s hand reassuringly. “But things are better this way. At least for now, you know?” 

“Yeah,” Jughead muttered, although there was a distant voice in the back of his mind yelling at him to admit that he didn’t understand and he wanted her to come home. But he silenced that voice quicker than it could rise to the surface and turned to smile reassuringly at his mother.

“Anyway, you go tell that Betty Cooper how you feel about her before it’s too late, okay?” Jughead’s mother urged him, tugging gently on his arm before glancing back to smile at Betty. “Life tends to push love to the way back of the shelf if you’re not careful. Don’t let that happen to you.”

Jughead followed his mother’s gaze to find Betty throwing her head back in laughter as she reacted to something his sister was saying. He loved the way his heart fluttered at the sound of her laughter, and the way her smile lit up her entire face unlike anything he had ever seen before.

“I won’t,” Jughead promised, turning back to place his hand in his mother’s open palms. “I’m really glad you’re here, Mom.” 

“Me too, sweetie,” his mother smiled, but there was a distant sadness there that Jughead failed to notice - one that indicated that maybe there was another reason for her return than just a family reunion with her son. “Me too.” 

With that, Jughead and his mother ordered a round of milkshakes for the entire table and joined everyone back at the booth. They both knew that they had a lot to talk about, but for now they simply enjoyed each other’s company without mentioning any of the problems that kept them both up at night - the reason she left her family behind. The reason she took Jellybean away from Jughead. And the reason that neither of them were never coming back.


End file.
